Apologize
by yikes-a-bear
Summary: Will the team accept Gambit as an X-Man? Will Bobby survive finals? And will the entire X-men household survive its biggest challenge to date -- the prom? Rogue and Gambit centric but also features some severely under-used new X-Men as well. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

_In the last episode of X-Men Evolution, when Xavier reveals what he saw about the future in Apocalypse's thoughts, we see a glimpse of a new X-Men team featuring many new mutants, including Gambit. This is my take on how, when and why Gambit joined up. Takes place later in the same school year that the last 'Evolution' episode happened. I haven't seen every single episode of the series, so any continuity boo-boos are completely accidental. My bad in advance. :)  
_

**APOLOGIZE**

"Something smells bad," Logan said as he squinted into the distance.

"Probably Kitty's potato salad," Bobby stage-whispered to Sam.

"I heard that!" Kitty scowled, her eyes narrowing at Bobby as she passed a paper plate filled with food to Rogue.

Logan stood up on the picnic blanket, shielding his eyes from the midday sun. "Not that," he growled. "Something else." He looked down at the group of younger X-Men. "Stay put, I'm going to check it out."

Rogue took a spoonful of potato salad and moved it around her plate warily. "What do you suppose THAT was all about?"

"I don't know, but one thing I DO know is that summer is almost here!" Kurt grinned, plopping back into the grass with a satisfied thud. "Only two more weeks of school and then va-CA-tion!"

Kitty took some pickles from the jar at the center of the blanket and piled them on top of her potato salad, causing Bobby to make a gagging motion to Sam. "If only we didn't have all those finals before then," she sighed.

Rogue's eyes widened as Kitty speared a mushy pile of potato salad and a pickle on her fork and raised it to her mouth. "You're not actually going to eat those TOGETHER, are you?"

Kitty took a big bite and smiled. "Why not? Anyway it's part of my new veggies-only diet."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Kitty, you SO do not need to go on a diet."

"If I want to fit into that super-cute dress I saw at the mall for the prom, I gotta," Kitty mumbled between mouthfuls of food.

"Hm," Rogue responded in what she hoped was an absent-minded tone, her hamburger bite suddenly feeling like concrete as it hit her stomach. _Like anyone would be able to forget about prom, _Rogue thought bitterly. Signs had been plastered all over school for what seemed like months now, urging the students to buy tickets early, spend an evening with that special someone, blah blah blah times infinity. Rogue tried to be happy for Kitty, since she was obviously so excited about the whole thing, but for Rogue, all it was going to be was another Saturday night alone. No one was going to ask her, as usual, so what was the point? It was just another annoying reminder of what other girls could have, but she couldn't.

Sam noticed Rogue's sudden change in demeanor and tried to cheer her up. "Kurt and I heard some of the other guys talking about an anti-prom the other day," he blurted out to her. He had to struggle to keep his cheeks from turning red. Bobby turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Really?" Rogue chuckled to herself. "Now THAT sounds like a party." She stood up. "Anyone ready for dessert?"

"I'll have what you're having, cherie."

Rogue whirled around to see Gambit smiling at her sheepishly as Logan held him off the ground by the back of his jacket.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Rogue drawled as she put her hands on her hips, trying not to smile back.

"Listen Cajun," Logan scowled as he dropped Gambit on the ground. "I don't know what trouble you're lookin' for here, but..."

Gambit held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "I just want to talk to the Professor, mon ami. That's all."

"Gimme one good reason why I should let you," Logan scowled at Gambit menacingly as the younger man stood back up and brushed himself off.

"I thought he might want to see this," Gambit said casually as he tossed a small object to Rogue.

Rogue flipped the smooth coin through her fingers. It looked ancient, with undecipherable writing that had almost rubbed completely off of one side with the passing of time and many hands.

"What IS this?" she asked.

Gambit stepped closer to her, so close she could feel his breath on her shoulder. "Take a good look at the picture is on the front."

Rogue held up the coin closer to her face, then gasped in recognition. "What's HE doin' on some old coin?"

Logan's patience, never one of his strongest assets to begin with, was running very thin. "Who?"

Rogue turned the coin face towards Logan and looked at him gravely. "Apocalypse."

* * *

"They've been in there a long time," Logan grumbled as he shifted impatiently in the overstuffed chair outside the Professor's office.

"What do you think it means Logan?" Kitty asked.

"I don't know what to think," Logan said. "I do know one thing – I don't trust Gambit. Why is he so keen on helping us out all of a sudden?"

Kitty stole a glance at Rogue. "I have an idea why," she grinned in a sing-songy voice. Rogue elbowed her in protest, but she had to admit to herself that she had secretly been hoping the same thing. After what had happened between them in New Orleans, Rogue had dreamt more than once about the mysterious Cajun, but she wasn't about to tell Kitty that. Ever.

Bobby, Kurt and Sam sat on the opposite side of the room, watching the events unfold with uneasiness.

"What do you think will happen?" Kurt asked Bobby.

"I don't know, but I DO know one thing," Bobby grinned. "Sam has a crush on Rogue."

Sam turned bright red. "I do not!"

"Oooh, will you come with me to the anti-prom Rogue? Pretty pretty please?" Bobby twittered at Sam, batting his eyelashes.

Sam turned away from Bobby, crossing his arms in frustration as he got up and stormed away.

"Nice going Bobby," Kurt said as he got up and walked towards Sam. He caught up with the taller boy and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't pay any attention to Bobby, Sam, you know how he can get. Sometimes he's like the annoyingest little brother that we all wish we never had."

Sam stopped, turned to look at Kurt, and sighed.

Kurt looked at Sam sympathetically. "He's right though, isn't he?"

Sam looked sideways, his hands in his pockets.

"Why haven't you said anything to her?" Kurt asked.

"Why would I?" Sam said quietly, his gaze never leaving the tops of his shoes.

"X-Vehicle joyriding notwithstanding, you're a good guy Sam," Kurt said encouragingly. "You ought to let the world know you better." He turned to nod towards Rogue, who was still deep in conversation with Kitty and Logan. "You should give her the chance to do that too."

Something in Kurt's tone resonated with Sam, who finally pried his eyes away from his footwear and looked up at his friend. "Don't you think she would just say no if I asked her on a, on a...well, you know, something like a date?"

"If there is one thing I know about Rogue," Kurt says, "it's that as much as she says she doesn't, she really DOES like all the other things girls like Kitty do."

"You mean like prom?" Sam asked, horrified at the suggestion he was making.

"What a great idea!" Kurt replied enthusiastically. "I'm going with Amanda, and Kitty and Lance are going. You could come with us. It would be fun."

"What if she says no?" Sam asked quietly.

"Would it be worse than not trying at all?" Kurt asked. "Besides, I think you're the only guy in the house who might look almost as good as me in a tuxedo."

Sam chuckled in spite of himself. "Ok, I'll...I'll do it."

If only he felt as sure as he sounded!

* * *

The door to the study finally opened, and Gambit stepped through the open doorway with the Professor close behind him. "Good, you are all here already," the Professor said. "I need you to gather the rest of the team together and meet me in the War Room. I have an announcement to make."

Logan quickly got out of the chair. "What's this all about Professor?"

"In due time, Logan," the Professor said. "If you'll follow me Gambit, we will meet the rest of the team there."

Kitty looked at Logan and Rogue. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"That makes two of us," Logan growled. He looked over Kitty's shoulder at Bobby, Kurt and Sam. "You heard the Professor. Let's get going."

* * *

A few minutes later, the entire team was assembled in the War Room, eager to hear the Professor's announcement.

"As some of you are aware, Gambit has brought me a most intriguing artifact," Charles Xavier said as he glided over to the computer station. With a few keystrokes, a hologram of the coin appeared in the middle of the War Room's table. "It appears to be a coin from around the year 900 AD from Britain. A coin," he paused dramatically, "with a likeness of Apocalypse carved on the front."

Ororo leaned forward to get a better look at the hologram. "What does this mean, Professor?"

"I'm not sure," the Professor responded. "It is yet another intriguing piece of the puzzle. I have yet to determine if this is history that has already happened, or it is something he has tried to alter recently."

"Why would he be changing the past in England?" Jean asked.

"I don't know, and I do not yet know what this will mean for all of us," he answered. "I have sent the hologram of the coin and all the information I have on it to Moira. She has many contacts in the British historical community that may be able to help us." The Professor glided back to the computer station and clicked on the screen, making the hologram disappear.

"Now," he continued, "I must speak with you all concerning an addition to our team."

The X-Men looked around the table at each other, puzzled. Who was joining them? And why was Gambit – someone who could still be one of Magneto's Acolytes – being allowed to be privy to this kind of information?

"I have had a long talk with Gambit," the Professor said evenly. "He wishes to stay with us and learn more about how to control his powers and use them for the greater good."

Logan jumped up and slammed his fist on the table. "You gotta be kidding me Charles."

Scott also stood up in protest. "I agree. Gambit's made his loyalties well known in the past, and they are most definitely not with us."

The Professor held up a hand in a peacemaking gesture. "I understand that many of you have doubts, but..."

"Doubts? Doubts?" Logan repeated loudly. "There's been a lot of times I haven't agreed with you Professor, but I've given you the benefit of the doubt. With THIS one though," he pointed a finger at Gambit, "I think you might just have lost your mind." Logan dropped back into his chair, his arms crossed in irritation.

"He'll say anything to get what he wants," Scott demanded. "He's proven his untrustworthiness time and time again. What makes you think he's changed now?"

Rogue suddenly flew out of her chair, not able to sit by silently any longer. "Hey y'all, if anyone here would have a reason to not accept Gambit, it would be me. He kidnapped me and brought me to New Orleans and lied to me about helping to rescue his father, remember?" She looked at Gambit steadily. "But if there's one thing I know about him, it's that underneath all that Cajun swagger and his not-so-great past, he has a really good heart. We should give him a chance. Remember, you all took a big one on me." With that, she sat down and looked around at her friends imploringly.

"Rogue speaks wisely, and it would do you all well to listen to her," the Professor said as he rolled his chair back to the table. "Gambit will remain here at the mansion on a probationary basis. Gambit has also agreed, albeit begrudgingly, to enroll in your school for the summer session in order to finish his high school equivalency." He looked around the table at his team. "I will expect all of you to assist him in any way that you can."

"We trust you and your decision, Professor," Jean said. "You have always done your very best when it comes to looking out for all of us."

Scott shot Jean a questionable look, which she pointedly ignored.

"Good," the Professor nodded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to show Gambit to the room where he'll be staying."

Gambit nodded at the Professor and walked over to Rogue's chair. "Thanks for putting in a good word for me cherie, "he whispered. "I promise you will not regret it." Winking, he turned and followed the Professor out the door.

"And the drama at the X-House continues!" Bobby cackled as he jumped up out of his chair.

"Bobby, aren't you the only one who doesn't have a roommate?" Jean asked teasingly.

"That means..." Kurt continued.

"I have to be Gambit's ROOMMATE?!" Bobby pouted.

"Think of it as penance from the Ghost of Annoyances Past," Kitty said as she patted Bobby on the shoulder.

"Seriously though," Scott continued, "I still really have a problem with this."

"You would," Rogue said bitterly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Scott countered.

"I wonder if this is the way you all acted when the Professor first told you about me," Rogue said defiantly. "If so I'm darn happy I wasn't here to see it." Tears in her eyes, Rogue spun on her heel and strode down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"Rogue, wait!" Kurt called. He was about to go after her until a sudden burst of inspiration hit him, and he elbowed Sam. "Ow, what was that for?"

"You should go talk to her," Kurt said.

Sam snorted. "She looks more like she wants to kick someone's backside more than she wants to talk."

"She needs someone to listen," Kurt said. "Be her friend. That's the most important thing."

Sam shrugged. "All right. I'll do my best." He felt even less confident than he sounded and hoped Kurt's plan didn't end up putting him in the emergency room with broken bones.

* * *

Rogue swung her legs off the side of the back balcony, looking up at the horizon. This was her favorite time of day. The Westchester sky was darkening into almost-hypnotic shades of purple and red. Usually it made her feel at peace, but after what had happened in the War Room, she felt anything but peaceful. Between Gambit's arrival and all the unresolved feelings she had that went along with it, her impassioned defense of Gambit, and the subsequent argument Scott and Logan had with the Professor about it, she didn't know what to feel.

The patio door squeaked behind her, and Rogue turned to see Sam walking through it. "Hey Sam," she said as good naturedly as she could manage, considering her mood. "You like the sunsets here too huh?"

Sam stood rooted to the spot. _Breathe_, he reminded himself. _Pretend you're at home having a conversation with Mom or Dad or Paige, and not one of the most amazing girls you have ever met._

Sam walked slowly towards her and plopped down next to her at the balcony's edge. "They're nice here and all," he said, "but nothing beats the ones we have in Kentucky."

"I feel the same way about the ones back home too," she smiled at him. "Do you miss it? I know I do."

"Sure do. Especially the food. The food here's ok and all but no one makes chicken the way my momma does," Sam admitted.

"I don't think I'd ever be able to eat jambalaya that didn't come from New Orleans, either," Rogue laughed. "Hopefully when Mardi Gras rolls around no one here will get any ideas."

They sat in a companionable silence for a few minutes until the sun went down.

"Scott and Logan shouldn't have argued with the Professor like that," Sam said quietly as the crickets began to chirp beneath them. "I don't think they even heard what you said, they were so mad."

Rogue looked up at the sky above her and sighed. "They wouldn't be Scott and Logan if they did. When it comes to those two, first impressions are pretty much everything."

"Well, I think they're wrong not to listen."

Rogue turned towards Sam and smiled. "Thanks Sam." She slowly stood up. "Well I think we had better head in to see what's on the menu for tonight."

"Hopefully not chicken or jambalaya?" Sam offered hopefully as he got up.

Rogue laughed. "Hopefully not." She studied him with curiosity. She'd never really gotten to talk to Sam before – he was usually pretty quiet and usually only hung out with either Bobby or Kurt – but she was very happy he had decided to join her on the patio. She hated to admit it, but she had really needed the company. Impulsively, Rogue gave Sam a quick hug.

"Catch you same time tomorrow?" she asked as she turned to walk back into the mansion. "The moon's supposed to be its biggest yet. Just like home."

Sam was so flustered by her sudden display of affection that he could barely speak. "Uhm, sure," he managed to stammer and wave as she walked through the door back inside.

Wow. Surely that would surpass even overly-optimistic Kurt's expectations of how it would go.

Sam started to follow her through the door, elated with how things had transpired, until he realized that he still had to ask her to the prom. And soon. It was only a week away.

_Fighting Sabretooth isn't nearly as scary as this, _he thought to himself.

* * *

"Knock knock," a soft voice called.

Gambit pushed a battered trunk next to the foot of his bed and looked up at the door._ There's only one person it could be_, he smirked knowingly as he strode to the door handle.

"Uhm, hi," Rogue said. "Can I come in?"

"Of course cherie," Gambit said, waving his free arm theatrically at the middle of the room. "My space is your space."

Rogue gave the room a quick once-over and was horrified when her gaze fell on Bobby's side of the room. Piles of clothes, crumpled sheets of homework and decomposing pizza boxes made a frightening mosaic all around his bed.

"Wow, this IS pretty scary," Rogue said as she gingerly removed a banana peel off of the one chair in the room.

"I'd ask him to clean it up," Gambit said, "but I haven't seen him since the meeting with the Professor." Gambit plopped down on the edge of his bed. "I'm thinking he might not be so excited about having me as a roommate."

"I think it's more like he's upset about losing the rest of his potential disaster area," Rogue tried to lighten the mood, but it clearly wasn't working. Rogue looked at the battered trunk beneath Gambit's feet. "Is that all you brought with you?"

Gambit nodded. "Didn't have much to start with," he shrugged. "This is the most important stuff I have." He patted the lid gingerly. "It was my mother's."

Rogue had never heard Gambit talk about his mother before. "Your real mom?"

Gambit nodded. "I barely remember her. She died when I was real young. After that was when I went to live with Jean-Luc and the thieves. She wouldn't have liked that, but he was the only family I had left who'd bother to take care of a kid on his own."

Gambit looked up at her. "She'd like that I was here though. Part of the reason I'm here, actually."

Rogue felt a little uncomfortable under Gambit's heavy gaze. "What's the other part of the reason?"

Gambit laughed. "Ah cherie, that is for me to know and for you to find out."

Suddenly unable to find anything else to say, Rogue stood up to leave. "Well, I just wanted to check in on ya and make sure you were okay after, well, you know." She fidgeted nervously.

"That's alright," Gambit said, hopping off the bed and meeting her in the middle of the room with one long, graceful stride. "I've actually had a couple other visitors before you came. Jeannie and Kitty came by to see if I needed anything, and Kurt actually teleported my trunk up for me. I know that I don't have lots of fans here, cherie, but the rest of them will come around. You'll see."

Rogue thought back to Logan and Scott's angry outbursts. "I sure hope so. I don't know why they can't believe someone would want to do somethin' to better themselves. I don't know if I would have lasted here very long if they had acted that way towards me."

"You're a survivor like me, cherie" he said softly, very closely. Too closely. "And we survivors got to stick together."

Startled by his physical closeness, Rogue stepped back towards the door. "Thanks. Okay! See you later then," she stammered as she half-tripped out the door.

Gambit leaned in the open doorway and watched her walk away, a lazy smile on his face.

* * *

"I dinnae know what it means, Charles," Moira McTaggert's voice announced through the speaker in the War Room. "None of my contacts seem to have seen anything like it, or have heard of anything having to do with Apocalypse in that time period."

"Curiouser still," Charles Xavier said. "Thank you Moira. Please keep me posted if you receive any other news."

"Will do Charles. Moira out."

As the connection clicked off, the Professor flipped the coin over in his hand again. If Moira and her contacts hadn't heard anything about it, perhaps it was a fake? Years of experience in dealing with human emotions and behavior had left the Professor fairly certain that Gambit had been truthful in his desire to help and in bringing it to the X-Men. If that was true, it left him with only one course of action.

Find out who Gambit had gotten it from.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you for all the great reviews! I wanted to get Chapter 2 up quickly, as Chapter 3 is going to take a little while. Thanks again for reading everyone and I hope you enjoy it._

Rogue laid down on the edge of the back patio of the mansion the next afternoon, lazily contemplating the clouds wafting above her as the sun started to set. She had plenty of studying to do, but she needed a brain break, not to mention a break from the tension in the house. That morning at breakfast, an argument had started between the usually-placid Jean and Scott over Scott's refusal to pass the butter when Gambit had asked for it.

It went downhill from there and had almost escalated into a food-fight-slash-brawl-with-superpowers when Hank McCoy broke it up. Rogue had gone off to school with a heavy heart, feeling badly for Remy, who was going to be stuck in the mansion all day with Scott and Logan, who still clearly hated him.

Needless to say, she hadn't gotten a whole lot done at school that day either.

"Hi," a soft voice interrupted her thoughts.

Rogue sat up as she saw Sam standing above her. "Is it still ok if I join you?"

"Sure," she said, patting the space next to her on the edge of the patio. She looked back up at the clouds again and pointed. "I was just trying to figure out if that cloud up there looks more like Logan or the X-Jet."

Sam laughed in spite of his nervousness, then sat down next to her. _You can do this_, he reassured himself. _This is easy! It's not like fighting the Brotherhood or Magneto or anything. It's just a girl. _

_A girl you really like. _

_That you want to ask to the prom._

_Aw shoot, why am I doing this again?_

"It's your Senior Year right Rogue?" Sam was amazed he had managed to blurt out a complete sentence.

Rogue looked at him, slightly surprised at the question. "Uh huh, unfortunately. The Professor's been wantin' me to pick some college courses online to take next fall, so I can stay here at the Mansion and help teach like Scott and Jean are doing, but I can't make my mind up on what I'd like to study." She laughed in spite of herself. "With the way things have been goin' the past few days, psychology might be the best choice." She stopped, wondering where he was going with this. "Why'd you ask?"

"It's just, well, everyone should get to go to their Senior Prom is all," Sam blurted out.

"That'd be nice," Rogue said with more than a hint of bitterness in her voice. "VERY unlikely in my case, though, but nice all the same."

_Just say it!_ Sam screamed in his head. "Uhm, well, I was sort of wondering...if maybe if you sort of kind of maybe went with me, then you could go."

Rogue smiled as she realized what he was saying. "Sam, are you asking me to go to the Prom with you?"

Sam looked at her meekly. "Uhm, if you want me to?"

She continued smiling in spite of herself._ Since when do I get all girly about stuff like the prom? _She'd all but announced yesterday that she didn't have the slightest interest in going. But she knew in her heart that it wasn't really true. She did want to dress up and get made up and be admired and appreciated as much as Kitty did.

Well, maybe not quite that much.

She sighed inwardly as she thought about what Kitty's reaction would be when she heard Rogue was going to the prom. _What am I getting myself into if I say yes? _

She didn't know Sam all that well, and he was younger than she was, but as the Professor had told them many times regarding the responsibility they had with their powers, when you were an X-Man, age was just a number.

Except in Bobby's case, of course.

On the plus side, of course, Sam was a tall, good looking guy, but most importantly, Rogue could tell Sam had an honest heart and a sweet, unassuming way about him that reminded her of home every time he talked to her.

She'd made her decision.

"Sure Sam, I'll go to the Prom with you," she smiled.

"Really?" he squeaked, then desperately tried to regain his composure. "Oh ok. Sweet." He stood up as casually as he could manage and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Ok. Great. Uhm, I'll tell Kurt...I mean, do you want to go with Kurt and Kitty?"

Rogue shrugged. "Sounds like fun."

Sam was grinning ear to ear as he walked backwards towards the door. Drastically underestimating the doorway's location, he ended up almost falling backwards over the patio table next to the door. Rogue had to pretend she had a cough and covered her mouth to fight off a giggle.

"Okay, great, well see you at dinner then," Sam managed to articulate as he turned to go back inside, waving.

"See you then," Rogue replied. She turned back to look out at the sky and cringed as she heard the sound of something metal and very heavy falling over in the hallway. She didn't have to guess who had knocked it over.

_Hopefully he'll be more graceful on the dance floor than he is in the X-Mansion_, Rogue smiled to herself.

The moon was starting to appear above the trees and Rogue sighed contentedly. How weird life could be that your day could be so bad one minute and so unexpectedly nice the next.

Suddenly, a screeching noise not uttered by most life forms on the planet suddenly came wafting through the hallway that led out to the patio, breaking Rogue's reverie.

_What on Earth? _Rogue wondered, then a sudden dread and realization washed over her_. Oh no, it can't be. How could she have possibly found out ALREADY?_

Kitty bounced onto the patio, uttering a shrill, shrieking noise Rogue hadn't heard since Kitty first saw Orlando Bloom without his shirt on in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. "Ohmigod Omigod Ohmigod!! We HAVE to go shopping!! LIKE!! RIGHT!! Now!!" Kitty pulled her friend to her feet and hugged her so tightly Rogue thought she was going to suffocate her.

Rogue sighed. It was going to be a very, very long night.

* * *

"You're quite certain, Remy?" Charles Xavier asked as he and Gambit strolled around the walkway in front of the mansion later that night.

"He said he got it from an art dealer he knew, and knowing about what happened the last time Apocalypse showed up, that he wanted me to have it to take with me," Gambit said. "I know he wasn't happy about my leavin' again, especially to join the X-Men, but why would give me something to help you all that he knew was phony?"

"I don't know," the Professor responded. "Whether the coin is real or fake, the situation is very troubling indeed." He stopped his chair and turned to face Gambit. "Perhaps you and I need to pay your adopted father a visit to get to the bottom of all this."

* * *

"Rghlflup," Rogue muttered incoherently as Kitty tugged on her comforter.

"Rogue, you have to get up. You're gonna be late for school!" Kitty implored. Rogue grunted and pulled her pillow over her head.

"Didn't I just go to sleep?" Rogue's muffled voice queried sleepily.

"NO," Kitty said, tapping her foot impatiently. No response. Kitty threw up her arms in frustration. "FINE. I'm just going to have to resort to something drastic."

"More drastic than last night...HEY!" Rogue protested as her pillow disappeared along with her comforter as Kitty phased them through the bed.

"Have I ever mentioned that I HATE when you do that?" Rogue said as she slowly sat up in her bed, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"Not today," Kitty replied in that sing-songy voice which drove Rogue crazy and reminded her of the lead character in Enchanted, a movie Kitty had forced them all to watch a few weeks ago at the Mansion – under extreme protest from pretty much everyone, mind you, except Jean _(no surprise there_, Rogue had thought at the time). "Come on, we've got another big day of shopping ahead once we get out of school."

"MORE shopping?" Rogue asked incredulously. Was that even POSSIBLE? Rogue slowly got out of bed and walked over to her dresser, trying to pull herself out of her grogginess as she started rummaging around for something to wear. As soon as Kitty had finally released her death-grip of joy on her the night before, she had dragged her to the mall, where they had spent what felt like four days looking at and trying on dresses. And more dresses. And MORE dresses.

"You still haven't found your dress yet silly, so of COURSE we have shopping to do," Kitty said in a matter-of-fact voice. "And once we do we have to find you a purse to go with it, the right accessories, makeup, how we're going to do your hair..."

Rogue sighed as she pulled on a new turquoise sleeveless shirtdress over her black long-sleeved leotard top and black leggings. "You do realize we have two finals on Friday morning, right?"

"Pfft. Finals can wait. The Prom is...forevah!" Kitty said as she did a little twirl in front of her mirror, swished her ponytail merrily, and headed out the door.

"Lord save us from the Prom Fairy," Rogue rolled her eyes as she followed Kitty out the door.

As she stepped into the hallway, she almost collided with Gambit, who was carrying a large box in one hand. "Sorry 'bout that, Gambit," Rogue said. "I'm still recovering from an overdose of Kitty's patented peppiness."

Gambit smiled at her. "I haven't been here long, cherie, but I can tell that one can take some getting used to."

Rogue chuckled. "I've been here for years and I'm still trying to get used to it." She looked at the battered leather bag slung over his shoulder. "Are you goin' somewhere?"

Gambit rubbed the back of his neck uneasily with his free hand. "The Professor wants to go ask my fath... – I mean Jean-Luc – some questions about the coin he gave me."

Rogue was curious. "Does the Professor think it's a fake?"

"May be. I'm hoping we can get some answers and get back outta town as quick as possible. I still don't trust the man completely, 'specially with any other mutants."

Rogue nodded. She vividly remembered Gambit's adopted father's reaction to seeing her and Storm's powers. Rogue had wondered at the time if it was admiration or acquisition he had on mind when he saw her and the rest of the X-Men at work. Either way, Rogue shared Remy's uneasiness.

"Don't you guys think you should maybe bring some backup, just in case?" Rogue asked.

"The Professor said he won't allow any of you all in school to go 'cause of your finals, and as for the rest, well," Gambit looked a bit wary, " he felt that because things were still a bit unsettled and all, it might not be best to bring them along."

"I know you'll do a good job watching out for the Professor Gambit," Rogue said.

"Thank you for the vote of confidence mon petit, but the Professor is a big boy and don't need me to take care of him, " he smiled, then nodded at the box he was carrying. "Now back to the reason I came to find you this morning. This," he said, placing it in her surprised hands, "is for you. Heard through the grapevine that you might be needing something like this. It was my mother's, and I want you to have it for your big night."

Rogue could only stand rooted in place like a dusty statue, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. _Did Gambit just give me a present?_

"I had better go. You have fun cherie, no one deserves it more than you." Gambit winked at her, taking one of her gloved hands and kissing it with a flourish. "You just let me know if that Guthrie boy misbehaves and I'll take care of him for you."

Rogue managed to mumble a goodbye as he disappeared down the hallway.

Her face felt hot. Then she felt clammy. Then she felt dizzy.

_Did Gambit just give me a present...and sorta KISS me?_

_I have to sit down_, she instructed herself as she stumbled down the hallway back to her room. She dropped down onto the bed, still holding the box in her lap.

She slowly pulled the top off of the box, then inhaled deeply as she saw what was inside.

It was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen in her life.

Gingerly she took the dress out of the box and held it up in front of her. It was the deepest blue-green color she had ever seen. And it wasn't like the overdone, busy, unecessarily floofy dresses that Kitty had tried to get her to buy, the kind that every princess in the animation world seemed to own a dozen of. It was elegant, understated, beautiful and classy. She absolutely loved it.

But that wasn't all. Underneath the dress were two long, satin gloves in the same exact color as the dress.

Rogue wiped away a small tear._ This whole Prom thing really IS makin' me all girly and mushy_, she laughed at herself. _If I'm not more careful, I'm gonna turn into Kitty version 2.0. _

Now that was a thought scarier than even Apolcalypse.


	3. Chapter 3

Gambit sat in the back passenger seat of the smaller X-Plane with his head in one hand, looking out the window as he absentmindedly traced small circles on its surface. This new mode of transport was an ingenious little project that the Professor and Hank had just finished tinkering with and that fit in perfectly for missions needing only one or two X-Men. It didn't fly quite as fast as the X-Jet, however, so it had left Remy lots of time to think. Which, for him, was almost always a very dangerous thing.

"We're approaching the coordinates you gave me, Gambit," the Professor's voice interrupted over the intercom. "We will be landing in just a few minutes."

"Will do, Professor," Gambit replied, then leaned back him his seat, his hands crossed behind his head. He still couldn't believe he was going back home, and with the Professor at that. If someone had told him a year ago he'd be riding around with Professor Xavier as his newest X-Man, he would have thought they'd lost their mind.

But his adventure rescuing his father with Rogue had changed him more than he had cared to admit at the time. Rogue and the rest of the X-Men who had come to help her had stayed in his thoughts long after they had gone back home. He'd never really felt he'd had anyone he could depend on to watch out for him, anyone who was really like a family. Rogue had that with the X-Men. _What would it be like to be surrounded by people who actually cared about what happened to you? _It was a possibility that intrigued even him, and he was the most cynical person he knew.

Meanwhile, whether it was out of thankfulness for saving his life or of guilt for years of questionable parenting skills, Jean-Luc had seemed to be trying his best to make up for his past behavior towards Remy, and instead of verbally bludgeoning him with demands that he stay and help the Thieves' Guild, he'd actually asked what Remy himself wanted to do. At first, reflexively, Remy hadn't trusted the man farther than he could throw him, but after months of this new behavior, Jean-Luc seemed so insistently sincere that Remy had finally had gone against his better judgment and entrusted his true thoughts to his father – that he'd been thinking for awhile about joining up to help the X-Men, but he didn't see how they would possibly accept him. He had spent long evenings talking about them with his adopted father, who had eventually convinced him to give it a try, and had shown up the last evening before Remy was to leave with the mysterious coin he had eventually brought to the Professor.

"Thought this might help you boy," Jean-Luc had said as he had tossed the coin to Remy.

Gambit had examined it closely. "Where'd you get this?"

Jean-Luc had chuckled. "Did you think when I told ya I knew everyone in New Orleans dat I was lyin'? After you told me about dis particular bad guy, I started checking around. Dis turned up and I t'ought it might help you and your new friends stay safer, non?"

Gambit had kept a veneer of detached composure on his face, but inside he had been stunned by the gesture. Jean-Luc, trying to help the X-Men, the same team he was losing Gambit to? _The old sayings are true, facing death must really make men like Jean-Luc come around_, Remy had decided.

"'Member boy, information is more valuable dan gold," Jean-Luc said as he patted the doorway in Remy's room. "I'll let you finish packin'."

Remy was jostled out of his recollections by the sound of the X-Jet's engines powering off. They'd already landed.

He took a deep breath._ Ready or not, here we go, mon ami. _

The Professor and Gambit were slowly lowered to the ground through hatches under their seats, and as Gambit sat up and took a step onto the soggy ground, he took a good long look at their current surroundings. They were in a clearing in the deepest part of the swamp, and a dirt path twisted through the trees, leading to his adopted home. He sighed. As much as things had seemed to change in his opinion of his adopted father, Gambit would much rather have met Jean-Luc in a more public place, like the French Quarter, but the Professor had insisted they drop by informally, so as not to put Remy's adopted father on his guard.

"Such isolation," Charles noted as he glided up next to Gambit. "It must have been very lonely for you growing up in a place like this."

Gambit shrugged. "Not much of a choice in the matter -- then again, there wasn't much choice with a lot of things when it came to Jean-Luc." Gambit walked up to one of the larger trees directly off of the dirt path and peered into its trunk, which hid a cleverly-concealed optic scanner.

The sound of a gate rolling away echoed through the clearing.

"Now he knows for sure we are coming," Gambit said. "Are you sure about this, Professor?"

"We will be fine," the Professor assured him. "Let's go, shall we?"

* * *

"Rogue, PLEASE," Kitty whined. "You have to tell me!! Where did you get that dress?"

Rogue clutched her book bag and shook her head. "Forget it, I ain't telling you, Kitty." She rolled her eyes for what felt like the umpteenth time today and took a deep breath. It was going to be a very, VERY long walk home from school.

Kitty sighed theatrically and picked up her pace to keep up with Rogue. "Well, I know you didn't get it at the mall with me, and I don't think even Ebay ships stuff to people THAT fast." Her eyes widened. "Ooooh!! It was a present from someone, wasn't it?"

Rogue tried desperately to keep the crimson color from rising on her face, but it was too late. Kitty's embarrassment radar was just too well-honed.

"Oooh! I'm SO right!! Did Sam give it to you?"

"Kitty, you're givin' me a migraine."

"Hmm," Kitty said as she jumped in front of Rogue and started running backwards to match her pace, her eyes never leaving Rogue's face. "I don't think Sam's that spontaneous. Wait." Rogue saw the wheels turning in Kitty's head and feared the worst.

"I saw Gambit with a box this morning that looked a lot like the box your dress was in and OHMYGODGAMBITGAVEYOUTHATDRESS!!" Kitty squealed so loudly Rogue almost dropped her book bag to cover her ears and try to save what was left of her eardrums.

"Ohmigod Ohmigod!! This is SOOOOOOO romantic," Kitty swooned as she turned to walk next to Rogue. "I wish I had two boys completely in love with ME at the same time."

Rogue took another deep breath to help steel her patience and stopped. "Kitty, no one is in love with me. Sam only asked me 'cause he felt bad for me not going to my own Senior Prom, and Gambit was just trying to say thank you to me for speaking up for him with Logan and Scott in his own weird way. So now that I've introduced you to my good friend reality, can we PLEASE stop talking about this now?"

"I wish a cute boy would give ME a beautiful dress," Kitty whispered to herself, a dreamy look on her face.

_What I wouldn't give to have Kurt's powers right now_, Rogue sighed to herself.

* * *

A minute or so after walking through the gates, Gambit and the Professor were met at the bottom of a circular driveway by two armed guards. "Ah Remy, you back already?" one of them cackled. "They kick you out no?"

"We're here to talk to Jean-Luc, Pierre," Gambit replied testily. "Then we are going."

"So soon?" a familiar voice called from the doorway of the house in front of them. Gambit and the Professor looked around in dread as a dozen more armed guards encircled them. "I'd be a poor host if I let ya leave without even tryin' my famous jambalaya, Mon Professeur."


	4. Chapter 4

"Make it stop!" Bobby Drake wailed in terror. "Aaaaaaugh!! MAKE!! IT!! STOP!!" He gripped the sides of his head in agony.

"Geez Bobby," Rogue said, closing her textbook and sighing. "It's just algebra. Get a grip."

"But you don't understand," Bobby implored. "It's going to KILL me."

Kurt flipped through another page of his notebook, unfazed. "Algebra might not kill you, but when he sees your report card, Logan just might."

"Augh!" Bobby cried, plopping his head face first into his math book.

"If you ask me it's your own fault for not studying," Sam said as he took a piece of paper out of his folder. He caught Rogue's eyes across the table, smiled, and blushed as he looked back down at his homework.

Bobby watched Sam in disbelief. "Can someone explain to me why it's fair that HE," Bobby whined loudly, pointing at Sam, "gets both straight As AND gets to go to the prom with the one of the prettiest girls in school?? Life is SO not fair."

Rogue gathered her books together and pushed her chair back from the table, smiling bemusedly at Bobby. "Why Bobby, I do believe that is the nicest thing you have ever said about me."

"Whatever," Bobby waved dismissively in her direction. "I mean, come on! We're already at a school to learn about our powers, why do we have to go to yet ANOTHER school on top of that? Isn't there some kind of law or something that says kids don't have to go to two schools at the same time?"

"Not that I know of," Kitty said, still hunched over her American Literature essay. "Now could you please, like, shut up, so the rest of us can study?"

Rogue stood up and pushed her chair back in. "Has anyone heard from the Professor? I thought they said they would only be gone for a day. They should have been back by now."

"Maybe the Prof is sight seeing?" Jamie offered hopefully.

"I'm going to see if Logan or Scott has heard anything," Rogue said. "I'll be back later."

As Rogue walked out of the library, Bobby shot a disgusted look at Sam, who had a dreamy expression on his face as he watched her go. "Oh shut up already."

"But I didn't say anything?" Sam asked.

"You didn't have to," Bobby said exhaustedly. "I think I'm getting a cavity from the sugar shock I get just sitting next to you whenever SHE'S in the room."

"Quit talking and start calculating," Sam responded, smiling to himself as he turned back to his work.

* * *

Gambit felt another wave of nausea wash over him as he struggled to open his eyes. "Ugh. What happened?"

"Go tell 'im dat Sleeping Beauty finally woke up," he heard a voice floating somewhere over his head.

Gambit grimaced as he finally managed to pry his eyes open. He looked up and saw Pierre cackling to another man he didn't know. "I was wrong about him," Pierre snickered. "He IS dumber than he looks, non?"

"Not as stupid as you mon ami," Gambit retorted as he tried to prop himself up to a sitting position. His arms were tied behind his back. Damnation. If he couldn't grab anything with his hands, his powers sure weren't gonna be any help in getting him out of this.

"Where's the Professor?" Gambit demanded.

"Oh, he fine. For now," Pierre chuckled. Gambit's eyes finished adjusting to his dark surroundings. He had no idea where the Professor could be, or even where he was, or how long he had been out. But he had a pretty good idea who had put him there.

"Did you have a nice nap Remy?" that all-too-familiar voice echoed from the other side of the room. Gambit cringed. Maybe he _was_ dumber than he looked after all.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you," Gambit sneered at his adopted father. "What have you done with the Professor?"

Jean-Luc studied his hands in a bored fashion. "For an old guy in a wheelchair, he sure put up a good fight. Lucky though we was well prepared for his mental mumbo jumbo." He pulled something out of his pocket. "I should thank you Remy. If it hadn't been for your ramblin' on about the Professor, we would never had known we had to find somethin' to short-circuit that brain of his so we could hang on to him proper." Gambit squinted to see what Jean-Luc had taken out of his pocket and was now placing on the floor in front of him. Some kind of vial of liquid...poison?

"If you've hurt him..." Gambit growled. If only he had listened to his instincts and talked the Professor out of coming here!

Jean-Luc laughed. "Tear up our King of Spades? That'd be plain stupid." He leaned in closer to Remy. "We're just keeping him real sleepy-like so he can't use his powers to escape."

"What do you WANT, Jean-Luc?" Remy spat at him.

"After seeing your X-Friends at work, I realized you and your powers were only pocket change," Jean-Luc said as he picked up the vial next to Remy. "I knew that if I could find a way to, how would you say, convince your X-friends to help me with some little errands, me and de Theives Guild would never have spend another day workin'."

"You mean you're gonna blackmail the X-men just to get even with the Rippers?" Gambit asked, still struggling against the restraints on his arms.

"Oh you mean da Assassins?" Jean-Luc asked in a bored tone. "That's what dey are calling demselves now, you know. Partly yes. But I got bigger plans for your buddies when dey get here."

"They won't do your biddin'," Gambit said with more certainty than he felt.

"Dey will, or they won't see their dear ol' Professeur again," Jean-Luc grinned. "And don't worry, I won't be keepin' YOU around here much longer either. I doubt any of them would come for you, anyway. After all, it was you who brought dem the coin in the first place."

"It was a fake," Gambit sneered. How could he have been so gullible?

"Of course, mon petit. Don't you know I know de best forgers in de business?"

"I guess I just believed you really were thinkin' what was best for me, for a change," Gambit said weakly.

Jean-Luc went on as if Gambit hadn't even spoken. "And when they find out, they'll all think you was in on it. So you'll have no place to go. We don't want ya, the X-Men don't want ya, and I am doubtin' that after joinin' up with the X-Men, your Acolyte buddies would want ya back either."

He leaned down and put his face right next to Gambit's. "Maybe you will finally learn, Remy, that no one ever, ever leaves de Theives Guild without facin' the consequences."

* * *

"I don't like it either, Rogue," Logan growled as he clicked on the War Room's communicator for what felt like the umpteenth time. "The Professor and Gambit both gone and com silent? Don't like it one bit." Logan stood up and stalked around the room.

"I haven't been able to mentally link with the Professor either," Jean confirmed from over at the War Room table, "but that doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong. It could mean he and Gambit just prefer to do this alone."

"Or it could mean trouble. If we don't hear anything from them by tomorrow morning, Logan and I will take the X-Jet and head down to New Orleans and try to find out what's going on," Scott said.

"What about the rest of us?" Rogue queried.

"There's no way Charles would want any of you walkin' out of school now, not with all the finals going on," Logan confirmed. "We can handle it."

"Isn't Storm going with you?" Rogue queried.

"She can't. Storm's in the middle of a special new mutant recruitment she was working on with the Professor in New Jersey," Scott said as he clicked off a computer monitor.

"Turns out the girl's dad isn't too keen on other mutants after one of our good buddies from the Hellions found out she was a mutant and messed with her mind," Logan shook his head. "But if anyone can convince him to let her join the X-Men, Stormy can."

Rogue did the math of remaining X-Men in her head and nodded towards Jean. "So you're leaving her here as our babysitter?"

Logan cracked a half-smile. "Someone's gotta stay to make sure Drake does all his homework."

* * *

Friday came and went, and a pile of exhausted teenagers filed back in through the doors of the X-Mansion.

"Two down, three to go!" Kurt cheered triumphantly.

"Next week is gonna be a KILLER," Jamie shook his head.

Bobby looked as if he hadn't blinked in several hours. "I. Am. SO!! Doomed."

"Yeah yeah, great, some exams are over, whatever," Kitty waved her hand dismissively. "We have much more important things to do now."

"Like wait around for Jean to tell us what to do while Scott and Logan are gone?" Kurt asked as he tossed his book bag behind the couch and plopped down onto it, sighing.

"Duh! Tonight is the prom!!" Kitty exclaimed.

Kurt sighed again as he grudgingly peeled himself up off the couch. "Tell me why our school is having prom on a Friday night again?"

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Who cares why? " She twirled around the room with her head turned to face the ceiling and her arms outstretched, like a Disney princess come to life. "I'm going to the PROM! I am SO ready!!"

Kurt rolled his eyes and whispered to Rogue. "I wonder if the prom is ready for Kitty."

* * *

Two pairs of curious ears were pressed up against Kitty and Rogue's door.

"NO!!"

"Come on, it's just a little eyeshadow."

"Kitty, it's..it's... GLITTER."

"Do you think Rogue is gonna throw Kitty out the window?" Jamie hissed in his most conspiratorial voice to Bobby.

"My money's on a bonfire of her teen magazines," Bobby shook his head. "Now shhh or we're gonna miss the best stuff!"

"Well, yeah, okay, it does have SOME glitter in it..."

"Kitty, look, see the label? The first ingredient listed is GLITTER."

"But..."

"I don't do glitter."

"But this is special!" Kitty said. "Come on, just this once. And please please let me do something with your hair?"

"Out."

"But..."

"You're all ready to go and I ain't gonna ever be if you don't go."

Bobby and Jamie could practically hear Kitty's pout through the door.

Rogue sighed. "I know you're trying to help Kitty, and I really appreciate it. I do. You're a great friend, but I need to do this my way."

"M'kay," a mumbly sounding voice responded as the doorknob turned.

Bobby and Jamie were too engrossed in the conversation to realize Kitty was trying to leave, and as she opened the door, both boys fell face first into her room.

Kitty's eyes narrowed. "You two are like, SO pathetic." She swished her curled, updo ponytail and stepped daintily over them in a flutter of poofy pink. "I'm going downstairs to wait for Lance."

Bobby and Jamie slowly got up, only to face an irate-looking Rogue.

"Get outta my room!" she snarled.

'We're going, we're going!" Bobby managed as he and Jamie scrambled to their feet and raced down the hallway.

As she heard the thud of the boys' footsteps echoing through the hallway, Rogue sat back down at the dresser mirror and sighed. She was still in her battered green bath robe, her beautiful gift from Remy still hanging on the closet door. She dug through her sparse makeup collection and tried to find something, anything, that would work with the dress. Black eyeliner, nope. Dark grey eyeshadow? Uh uh. And what the heck was she gonna do with her hair? Rogue sighed and put her chin in her hands, looking at her reflection. Who was she kidding? She didn't have any kind of experience with this sort of stuff. Maybe she should have let Kitty help her.

She glanced over at Kitty's gigantic pink makeup case, took one look at the overflowing glittery makeup inside it, and groaned, her head plopping face-first to the dresser table in frustration.

A soft knock sounded on the doorway behind her.

"I told you Kitty, thanks but no thanks..."

"It's not Kitty."

Now THAT wasn't a voice she had been expecting to hear. Rogue turned around to see Jean, who was holding a basket containing a slim, small silver makeup case, a large hair brush, a bottle of hair spray and a curling iron.

"Do you trust me?" Jean asked with a smile.

_What a question_, Rogue thought to herself. To say that she and Jean were not BFFs was a huge understatement. Jean had tried valiantly in the beginning of Rogue's tenure with the X-Men to befriend her, but Rogue took one look at her popularity, her beauty, her over-achieving personality, her star football playing boyfriend, and the boy from the X-Men who followed her around like a lovesick puppy, and had responded in pretty much every way but verbally with a big ol' 'no thanks'. Why would she even contemplate letting Jean go near her with any sort of beauty product when she'd already turned down her best friend's help?

Rogue sighed again and looked at the dress. She really DID want this night to be something special, and Jean was probably the one person in the house who could really help her make that happen.

Rogue gave Jean a genuine smile. "Yes Jean, I think I actually do."


	5. Chapter 5

Sam checked his watch for the nineteenth time in the past 5 minutes. "Do you think she changed her mind and that's why she's not down here yet?"

Kurt clapped a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Relax Sam! We still have plenty of time."

Kitty was pacing back and forth like a nervous parent. "I shouldn't have left her alone up there. She needs me, whether she likes it or not."

Lance tried valiantly to calm her down. "I'm sure she's fine. She's just..." Lance stopped talking as he looked up at the top of the stairs.

"Wow," Kurt said.

Bobby and Jamie, who were camped out on the opposite couch fighting over whose turn it was to play the Nintendo DS, both looked up to see what was going on.

"Double wow," Bobby said. The DS fell out of his hands as his mouth gaped open in shock.

Rogue shifted uncomfortably at the top of the stairs, unaccustomed to the attention she was receiving. She turned to Jean, who was standing behind her. "See! I told ya I'd look stupid."

Jean smiled. "That's not why they're staring and you know it." She gave her a gentle pat on the back. "Go on."

Rogue sighed in resignation and turned back towards the staircase. Taking a deep breath, she started walking slowly down the stairs. Her eyes met Sam's, and his face flamed bright crimson, and he suddenly looked as if he was going to faint.

Kitty ran up to her as she reached the bottom of the stairs and enveloped her in a bear hug. "You. Look. AMAZING!!" she squealed.

Rogue struggled to breathe. "If you don't let go of me Kitty, the only place I'll be going tonight is the hospital." Extricating herself from her friend's grip, she turned and smiled at Sam, who was clutching a small plastic box in his hands.

"Uhm, this...it's a...you put it on...uhm," Sam stammered as he offered it to Rogue, trying desperately to keep his hands from shaking.

Rogue took the box from Sam and smiled. "Thank you," she said as she slipped the small bunch of flowers onto her wrist. "Lilacs are some of my favorite flowers. How'd you know?"

Kitty cleared her throat loudly. Rogue turned to look at her and saw her conspiratorial wink.

Kurt strolled up between Sam and Lance and draped an arm around their shoulders. "Shall we go then? Amanda is still waiting for us to pick her up."

The group began to move towards the door, chatting amicably amongst themselves. Sam didn't say much; he wanted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

_I'm going to prom with the most beautiful girl in the world_, he grinned. Things didn't get much better than...

His thoughts were interrupted as a densely packed snowball whacked him on the back of the head. "Hey!" he protested as he whirled around.

Bobby was shaking his head and smiling wryly at him. "That's for how much I am seriously hating you right now."

Rolling his eyes, Sam turned back towards the door and hurried to catch up with the group. He arrived just in time to see the girls' reaction to their mode of transportation.

"Ok, uhm..." Rogue said, twisting her hands together in an uncomfortable gesture.

Kitty was not quite as subtle. "Wow, it's the X-Van. How romantic." She turned to glare at Lance, her hands on her hips.

"Don't look at me," Lance said, holding up his hands in surrender. "It was Kurt's idea."

"You have to understand," Kurt pleaded. "None of us have jobs, and after school, we're either busy training here or..." he gestured vaguely to Lance, "whatever it is Lance does when he's not at school. Once we bought all the tickets, there was no money left over."

"You could have asked us to chip in," Rogue observed.

"I would have chipped in too," Kitty pouted.

Kurt tried his best to rally. "Does it really matter how we get there, as long as we get there?"

Rogue couldn't help but smile. "'Suppose not."

Kitty crossed her arms. "Fine, fine. But I call shotgun."

Sam, who had finally seemed to regain the power of speech, opened the back door for Rogue. "Your carriage awaits."

Rogue chuckled and did a theatrical curtsy as she got inside. "Why, thank you, sir."

* * *

After picking up Amanda and parking the X-Van in the school's parking lot, the trio of couples made their way through the gym.

"I still can't believe the school wouldn't spring for a country club, or some other place," Lance grumbled. "You'd think that what we paid for the tickets and...ooof!" he muttered as Kitty elbowed him in the ribs.

"Stop being so pessimistic," Kitty said. "It's going to be great, you'll see."

As they walked through the gym's back door and out onto the football field, they all stopped and gazed in amazement at the transformation.

A billowing white tent covered the entire length of the field, with a large wooden dance floor in its middle. White tables dotted the area around the floor; each featuring a more spectacular flower arrangement on it than the next. More flowers, and what seemed like millions of fairy lights, hung from every section inside the tent.

"I've been at weddings that weren't even close to as pretty as this," Kitty gasped as she walked by a large pot of exotic flowers.

Lance grunted in semi-approval. "It's nice to know all that money I spent on tickets went towards something." Kitty narrowed her eyes at him.

Kurt grinned from ear to ear. "Ooooh! Look at the dessert table!" Amanda waved goodbye to the rest of the group as Kurt gleefully dragged her towards it.

"So should we like find a table or something?" Lance's prior comment already forgotten, Kitty was grinning so fiercely it looked as if her face would burst.

Rogue shrugged. "I guess. You know more about this stuff than I do."

Kitty directed them to a table close to the dance floor as Sam pulled out a chair for Rogue.

"Uhm, do you want something to drink, or something?" Sam asked, his voice wavering. _Why can't I just stop being nervous? She seems like she is having a good time. Relax already, please!!_

Rogue looked up at him and smiled. "If the punch looks like it's fit for human consumption, then yeah, sure."

"M'kay I'll be right back," he nodded.

"Ahem," Kitty cleared her throat and looked pointedly at Lance, who had already plopped down distractedly on a chair next to Kitty, and was now waving to some friends across the room.

"What?" Lance asked.

"Did you SEE that?" Kitty gestured in Rogue's direction.

"See what?" Lance asked in a dumbfounded tone.

Kitty sighed heavily. "Sam! He pulled Rogue's chair out for her AND went to get her something to drink!"

"So?" Lance said.

"Oooh!" she vented as she pushed her chair away from the table. "Never mind! I'll go get it myself."

"Hey while you're up could you get me some cookies from the dessert table?" Lance asked.

Kitty glowered at him, turned on her heel, and stomped away.

Lance looked at Rogue and shrugged. "NOW what'd I do?"

Rogue shook her head at him. "Kitty has been looking forward to her prom for, well, I think her whole life, probably. She wants to be treated like Cinderella tonight and, well, you're treating her more like one of the Seven Dwarves."

Lance looked uncomfortable. "I'm not good at that romantic junk," he admitted.

"You think I'm any better at it than you are?" Rogue snorted. "A week ago I wouldn't have dreamed I'd be here – actually, I didn't even think I wanted to be here. But I guess I do, after all. Everyone wants to be admired and appreciated, Lance. Especially someone like Kitty."

Lance looked over in Kitty's direction uneasily.

"That means you should go. Like NOW," Rogue said.

Nodding, Lance stood up and straightened his coat. "Wish me luck," he said as he headed over towards Kitty. Rogue turned and watched as Kitty met him halfway, a frown on her face. He started talking, she nodded, and then she squeaked happily and enveloped him in an enthusiastic hug.

The DJ started playing 'Apologize' by One Republic, and Kitty grinned and half-dragged Lance to the floor. Rogue couldn't help but chuckle at how appropriate the song choice was.

_Maybe the DJ is an empath or somethin'_, she mused.

Sam appeared in front of her, holding two cups of punch. "I tasted some and it seems okay," he said as he gingerly handed her a cup.

"Well it's nice to see the school serving something that's edible for a change," she smiled as she took a sip. They both watched as the floor began to fill up with couples.

"I'm always surprised when I see Lance and Kitty together," Sam said as he nodded in their direction. "They seem so different."

"What can I tell ya?" Rogue shrugged. "Opposites attract."

Sam nodded, then placed his empty cup on the table. "Do you want to..." he inclined his head towards the dance floor.

Rogue put her cup down next to his. "I'd love to." She took his hand in her gloved one as they walked slowly to the dance floor.

Rogue's hopefulness that Sam was more graceful on the dance floor turned out to be surprisingly well-founded. He seemed to be a natural, and guided her around the floor with a gentle ease.

Sam seemed to pick up on her observation and smiled. "My momma made all of us take dancing lessons from pretty much when we started walkin' on up."

"She sounds like a really great lady," Rogue said. "Don't you miss her?"

Sam looked down for a minute. "Sure do. And my brothers and sisters too, 'specially Paige. Paige would love living at the mansion. She'd be the only one who could out-obsess Kitty when it comes to famous people."

Rogue smiled. "She sounds great. I wish I had a sister like that."

Sam seemed to relax a bit more after talking about his family, and smiled back at her. "Hey, you got Kurt, and all of us too. Unless Bobby isn't your idea of a dream brother come true?"

Rogue laughed. "Not exactly." Her eyes suddenly started to glisten. "Thank you again so much Sam, for invitin' me. I'm having a really nice time."

"Me too," he smiled back. Sighing contentedly, Rogue laid her head on his shoulder. _So this is why the other girls are always going on about prom, _she thought to herself. _I guess I just didn't know what I was really missin'._

Kitty's voice suddenly interrupted her contentment. "What's Jean doing here?"

Rogue looked up and saw Jean striding purposefully towards them.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it," Lance said.

By now Kurt had spotted what was going on, and had led Amanda over to the rest of the group as Jean met them at the edge of the dance floor.

"Uhm, wasn't your prom last year, Jean?" Kurt asked.

Jean shook her head. "I have to talk to you. Now."

Kurt patted Amanda's arm. "Why don't I meet you over at the dessert table? It should just take a minute."

Amanda winked at him. "Fine, but if there's only one brownie left, I'm not sharing."

Jean started at Lance. "Lance, would you excuse us, please?"

Lance leaned down to whisper to Kitty. "What the heck is going on?"

"No clue whatsoever," Kitty said.

Lance appraised Jean's disheveled appearance warily. "I hope she isn't gonna go all Carrie on us or anything," Lance whispered back. He pointed at their table. "I'll be right over there if you need me."

After Lance had walked away, Jean led the remaining four teenagers outside the tent.

"Jean, what's going on?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah, you're kinda scaring us," Kurt added.

"There's NO time," Jean stated. "We have to go. Right now. This instant."

"But we just, like, got here," Kitty implored.

"You don't understand," Jean said, shaking her head. "The X-Jet came back."

Four pairs of blank eyes stared back at her.

"WITHOUT Scott or Logan."

"What do you mean, without Scott or Logan?" Kurt asked in the squeaky voice that indicated he was starting to panic.

"The X-Jet has a security feature that allows us to program in the approximate time we think we may be gone on a mission," Jean filled them in. "If you don't return or communicate with its systems by that time, it returns to the mansion. By itself."

"Does that mean Scott and Logan are in trouble?" Sam asked.

"They haven't contacted the mansion on the com all day, AND I can't psychically link with either one of them," Jean said. "Combine that with the fact that the Professor's mind is still not responding to me, and I'm certain that something very bad has happened to them. So we need go. Now."

"In our prom clothes?" Kurt squeaked again.

Jean shook her head. "There's no time to go back home and change. The X-Jet is in the back of the parking lot in stealth mode, and every minute we stand here talking is another minute that something terrible may be happening to all of them."


	6. Chapter 6

Rogue fidgeted with her gloves as she looked out the window of the X-Jet. No one had said a word since they had abruptly left the prom and boarded the plane a few minutes ago. She turned around to look at the rest of her teammates. Kitty was examining her glittery-painted nails, Sam was drumming his fingers on his knee, and Kurt was furiously tugging on his tuxedo's bow tie.

"Pre-calc is easier than figuring out how to get this thing off," Kurt muttered to himself.

Kitty sighed loudly and got up out of the seat across from him. "If you want help Kurt, you could, like, just say so," she reprimanded as she leaned down and removed the offending item in three deft movements.

Kurt stared at her, baffled. "How did you do that?"

Kitty waved her hand at him dismissively. "Whatever." She stood back up and faced her friends. "Okay, that's it. We can't just sit here and not say anything, guys. We NEED to figure out some sort of plan."

"A plan for WHAT exactly?" Kurt asked.

"Kitty's right," Jean called over her shoulder from the X-Jet controls. "We won't be any better off then the Professor, Gambit, Wolverine or Scott if we don't."

"Like their plans helped them any," Kurt grunted. "Besides, maybe it was someone's plan for this to happen."

Rogue narrowed her eyes at Kurt. "What are you saying exactly, Kurt?"

Kurt sighed and threw up his hands. "I'm....well, I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking," he stammered.

Rogue looked around in disbelief. "Kitty?"

Kitty looked down at her hands and fidgeted with her bracelet. "Well, you gotta admit Rogue, it does look pretty suspicious."

Rogue turned to look at Sam imploringly.

"It, well, it doesn't look good, Rogue," he admitted. "I'm sorry but...."

Rogue stood up, outrage etched on her face. "I can't believe this! You ALL think Gambit did this?"

"I know you and he went through something in New Orleans together when you saved his dad, Rogue, but how well do you know him, I mean, really?" Kitty quietly offered.

"I don't know how I know. I just KNOW." Rogue said. "If any of y'all trust me, even just a little, you'll believe me that I know it wasn't him."

Jean's mediating voice interrupted from the front of the plane. "Arguing isn't going to get us any closer to helping our friends."

Rogue crossed her arms, looked at her three friends warily, and took a deep breath. Jean was right, AGAIN. Why did it have to happen twice in one night?

"She's right, we need to stop fighting about whose fault this is and get the job done. Any ideas?"

There was silence for a minute, then Sam piped up.

"You said Jean Luc's gang doesn't have any mutants in it?" he asked Rogue.

Rogue shook her head. "Remy, I mean Gambit, said he was the only one, and he isn't with them anymore. When we rescued Jean Luc the first time, he seemed really surprised by all our powers, like he'd never seen anything like them before."

"So it's pretty weird that his non-mutant goons could take all four of them out," Kurt wondered.

"I'm guessin' that after what you all have said about this guy, he would be pretty happy to have the X-Men working for him." Sam said.

"That'd never happen," Kitty snorted. "From what Kurt told me it took all of Wolverine's self control not to hack Gambit into bits for kidnapping Rogue to help him, much less the slimeball who got them into the whole mess in the first place."

"So he'd have to do some pretty serious convincing to get the job done," Sam nodded.

"Taking the Professor would definitely be a way to get the X-Men to do what he wanted," Jean contributed from the pilot's seat.

"But there's no way he could have subdued the Professor unless...." Rogue continued.

"Unless he knew about his powers and how they worked?" Sam offered.

Exactly!" Kurt snapped his fingers. "It all makes sense now. No wonder he let Gambit leave the Thieves Guild. He WANTED him to go to the X-Men, so that when he asked about us, it wouldn't seem so suspicious."

"And I have a feeling a guy like Jean Luc would know a lot of people who would know where to get even more detailed information about us," Rogue agreed.

"So what do we do?" Kitty asked.

"They'll be expecting us to come blazin' in using each of our powers," Rogue said. "So they've probably figured out a way to cancel them out, somehow."

"Okay, I'll ask again – so, what do we do?" Kitty demanded.

Rogue smiled. "Give 'em something different."

"Am I the only one who has no idea what she is talking about?" Kitty asked.

"Go on, Rogue," Jean encouraged.

"They'll be expecting Kitty and Kurt – but they won't be expecting Kitty and Kurt working together. Kurt could teleport Kitty around to as many of Jean Luc's cronies as they can to disarm them..."

Kurt sat up. "If I keep the 'porting random enough, they literally won't be able to tell where we go next!"

Rogue continued. "I think I know how I can get to Jean Luc. I remember where his quarters are; the leader of the Rippers was one of the guys I knocked out that night with Gambit, and he kidnapped him from one of his main rooms. Jean Luc is the only one who can cancel out whatever was done to the others." She turned to look gravely at Sam. "But to do it, I'm gonna need to go after him in a way they won't be expecting."

Sam's face drained as he realized what she was saying. "You need to absorb my powers?" he barely managed to squeak out. But it wasn't his powers, or even being unconscious, that scared the heck out of him. It was that Rogue would know his thoughts as well. Especially how he felt about her. It was mortifying to even think about.

But the Professor, Wolverine and Scott would do anything for him as a teammate, and as an X-Man, he knew he had only one answer he could give.

Sam nodded. "Okay, " he agreed with more certainty than he felt.

Rogue smiled. "Jean, would you be able to cloak the X-Jet's location from the Thieves Guild mentally?"

"I think so," Jean said. "I'm not sure for how long, though."

"If everything goes the way I'm hoping it will, the whole team will be back before you even need a Tylenol for a headache."

* * *

Absorbing someone's thoughts was always a shock to Rogue's system; it felt like someone's brain was getting smashed into her head and trying to shove her own out of the way. She'd been able to manage the residual thoughts from the many encounters she had experienced so far as an X-Man, but it didn't make the process any less unpleasant.

"Are you ready?" Rogue asked.

Sam nodded. He couldn't speak. _Lord help me_, _this is worse than when I was little and waitin' at the doctor to get shots._

"Thank you again for trying to make this night so great, Sam," Rogue smiled as she sat down next to him. "It really meant a lot to me."

"Uhm, no problem," he managed to say. He felt her lean across the seat, her hair brushing his cheek. Then the smell of lilac, then the feel of her lips kissing his cheek, then....

As Sam's head fell back onto the seat, Rogue blinked and stood up, trying to maintain her bearings while Sam's powers and mental impressions coursed through her head. As she struggled to regain control, a tear rolled down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away. She didn't have time to deal with the vehemence of the thoughts she was experiencing right now. Her friends were in trouble. She had to focus.

"Let's go," she called to Kurt and Kitty.

"Good luck and be careful," Jean nodded at them as she activated the X-Jet's door and ramp.

* * *

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bust your head through this wall," Rogue snarled as she held Jean Luc against the wall by the throat. The man had certainly not been expecting the slight girl with the white striped hair to come blasting through his house like a missile.

""Why that be easy cherie," he sneered. "'Cause I am the only one who has the antidote for the ol' sleepin' sickness your friends got."

_Sleeping sickness.....some kind of poison? That's how he had stopped the others?_

She wasn't going to give him the time to do it again. "Goodbye, Mr. LeBeau," she spit at him as she slammed her bare shoulder into his face.

As the unconscious figure of Jean Luc LeBeau slumped to the floor, Rogue struggled to reign in Sam's powers while sorting through Jean Luc's thoughts to find both her friends' locations and the antidote. Fumbling around the desktop near Jean Luc, she extracted a key from underneath a pile of old books.

Running to the window, she looked out to see Kitty and Kurt kicking the last of Jean Luc's cronies to the ground. Kurt spied her and grabbed Kitty, teleporting them both up to the room. "You got him?" Kitty exclaimed. "Wicked!"

"They're holding them in a converted old storehouse at the back of the property," Rogue said as she tossed Kurt the key. "This unlocks a case inside that has the antidote. I think there are about a dozen more guys guarding them there, though."

Kurt and Kitty shrugged. "No problem, the Wonder Twins can take 'em!" Kitty smiled as she bumped fists with Kurt.

"We need to go, now," Rogue said urgently. "I feel Sam's powers are startin' to wear off and I think we're gonna need them to get through the door."

* * *

A rocket-propelled Rogue and a perpetually disappearing and reappearing Kurt and Kitty were indeed the last thing Jean Luc's remaining lackeys had been expecting, and just a few minutes later, they were helping their woozy friends to their feet and out of the building.

"How did this happen?" Scott asked.

"I'm not sure, but someone is overdue for a serious beating," Logan growled as he unsheathed his claws.

"We are all safe now and relatively unharmed, Logan" the Professor warned. "We should be grateful for that and depart before any more trouble starts."

"I'll show that slimeball Jean-Luc grateful," Logan sneered as he begrudgingly followed the Professor out the door. As he walked by Gambit, he nodded his head at him. "Your dear ol' adopted dad couldn't help bragging and blabbed his whole plan to us right before he knocked us out. Guess I was wrong about you, kid," he grunted as he walked away.

"That's as close to an apology as you're ever going to get from Wolverine," Scott said as he held his head. "I'm sorry we misjudged you, Gambit."

"It's fine mon ami. Bygones be bygones." Gambit nodded at him. He looked to Kitty, who were on either side of Scott to help support him. "Have you seen...?"

"She's resting over there," Kitty nodded her head in the direction of the trees surrounding the back of the storehouse.

"Thank you ma petite," he winked.

"What did you do that for?" Kurt hissed at Kitty.

"You are so, SO clueless Kurt," Kitty rolled her eyes.

* * *

Rogue slumped against the tree trunk, her face in her hands. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She'd absorbed more than a few people and their powers by now, but every time it seemed to get harder and harder for her to get back in control. It was as if there was less and less room left for her inside her own head.

And then there was having to deal Sam's feelings for her. Even though they were fading, they still felt as if they were overpowering her. She liked and appreciated Sam, but she knew she didn't feel anywhere close to the same about him as he did about her. What was she going to say to him the next time she saw him? And how was she going to tell Gambit about what had happened to the once-beautiful-but-now-ruined dress he had entrusted to her? She looked up at the sky and sighed heavily, tears rolling uncontrollably down her cheeks. God, she HATED feeling like this, so...so emotional. She was the tough one, the one that didn't crack. She had to get this back under control.

"Cherie?" Gambit's tentative voice echoed from somewhere behind her. "Are you alright?"

_Damnation, what kind of timing he has! _"I'm fine," she replied in a voice that still cracked with emotion. "I just need a minute."

"I know, I just need to tell you somethin' is all," he said as he edged closer to her.

"Now's not a good time," she replied, fighting to control the wavering in her voice.

"M'kay," Gambit said, stopping about a foot away. "I'll wait as long as you need me to."

He heard a sniffle, then saw her reach up a hand to her face. "Please don't look at me, Gambit."

"Why not?"

Rogue suddenly whirled to face him. "Because of this!" she stammered, gesturing at her dress. Large gashes ran up and down the sides of the dress, and the hem was in tatters and covered with dirt. Splinters from the walls she had blasted through were embedded all over the dress, and one glove had completely torn off. "You gave me this beautiful dress – your momma's dress! – and I ruined it. I can't ever expect you to forgive me for that."

Gambit walked up to her and looked down into her eyes, his face an inch from hers. "Things are only that – just things, cherie." He brushed her face with his gloved fingers. " And I can tell you that after all you done for us – for me– here today, I've never seen you look as beautiful as you do right now."

He stepped back and held out a hand to her. "Will you give Gambit the honor of the last dance with you tonight?"

Rogue wiped a tear from her face. " I don't hear any music."

"I do," he winked. "Just follow my lead, okay cherie?"

Rogue sniffed and took his hand. He wrapped his arms around her and she laid her head on his shoulder as they slowly danced through the shadows of the trees.

It wasn't exactly the perfect ending to a perfect prom, but it was the beginning, of something.....

The End?


	7. Epilogue

The man who was hunched over the ancient table didn't move an inch when the door to the front of his shop slammed open.

"Mendias, ah have another job for you."

The man at the desk slowly looked up and regarded his customer evenly. "You don't sound to be in the happiest of moods, Mr. LeBeau." He picked up a pair of glasses and slipped them on. "Don't tell me it was because of your purchase from me?"

Jean-Luc LeBeau scowled at the younger man as he walked towards the table.. "'Course not. Worked like a charm just like y' said it would. It was the rest of de job that didn't go down so good." He pulled a crumpled up piece of paper out of his pocked and tossed it across the table. "You evah see one of 'dese before?"

Mendias picked up the paper and studied it carefully. "It looks to be Egyptian....yes, I have," he nodded.

"Well? Can ya make up anotha one of youah mastahpieces for me?" LeBeau smiled crookedly.

Mendias pulled a worn notebook out of his desk drawer and began to write up the order. "Do I want to know why you need this item copied, or is it perhaps best not to ask?"

Jean Luc shrugged. "'Don't mind tellin' ya. Actually the boys are rather proud dey came up with dis one. One of da Rippers' family a big time antique collector. We gonna sell him dis through one of our friends in de auctionin' business. If he buys it as much as Remy and de X-men bought that coin you gave me, we be in very big business, no?"

Mendias finished writing up the order and nodded at Jean Luc. "Come back next week, LeBeau, and you'll have your priceless artifact."

Jean Luc bowed. "You one in a million, Mr. Mendias," he grinned, then turned and walked out of the store.

Mendias chuckled to himself as he tore out the page from the notebook and dropped it into a basket on his desk. "Indeed, Mr. LeBeau, as I can say for you as well. A fool you may be, but you played your part most excellently." Mendias took a large book from the bottom of the pile on his desk and gingerly opened it. "Now that the X-Men believe the coin is a fake, I very much doubt they will investigate any more artifacts with his visage upon them." He touched an old print in the front of the book, a drawing of an ancient Egyptian landscape, reverently. "Now it will be as it should have been all those years ago, my dearest friend. We will rule not just a fragment of time, but all of time, together."


End file.
